Leuthold Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Leuthold Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,896 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Leuthold Group LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Meritage Homes worth $6,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 3.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,170,062 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $510,374,000 after purchasing an additional 151,946 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 779,549 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $135,797,000 after purchasing an additional 143,440 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 449,233 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $54,982,000 after purchasing an additional 118,818 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 101.2% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 124,404 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,216,000 after buying an additional 62,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 340,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,694,000 after acquiring an additional 62,549 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH stock traded up $4.68 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $180.00. The company had a trading volume of 143,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,041. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $183.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $161.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.75.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. On average, analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 100,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,322,302.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.